PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball came up just short in the season opener against Fort Lewis, 76-73.

"We had a great crowd tonight," said head coach Daven Võ. "Just didn't shoot the ball well from the free throw line. Very correctable. We played hard and made some runs."

Fort Lewis spoiled the first home game of 2025-26 for Eastern New Mexico thanks to an incredible first outing for Utah State (DI) transfer Jaxon Smith. Smith scored 28 points on 7-of-11 shooting from behind the arc. Smith added two rebounds and two assists.

ENMU prioritized ball control from the backcourt and made an emphasis to attack the glass. Eastern won the rebound battle, 42-37, including a 21-11 edge in offensive rebounding.

Senior forward Jose Murillo had a solid season opener with 15 points and 10 rebounds. This is his fifth double double of his career. Murillo shot well from the floor with a 6-for-7 mark.

Eastern New Mexico had three others score 10+ points tonight. Mo Austin had 16, Austin Abrams had 14, and Treyvon Byrd had 11. Mo Austin showcased his talent with a productive opening game for the program. Austin snagged eight rebounds and dished out seven assists.

Cooper Jackson is back in midseason form. The senior guard tallied four steals in the loss. Just a year ago, he led the Lone Star Conference with 3.1 steals per game. Jackson finished with eight points with both field goals coming from behind the arc.

One area that decided the game was from the charity stripe. Eastern shot 50% from the free throw line and allowed their opponents to go 68.4% from the same distance. Fort Lewis also struggled to maintain possessions as they gave up 16 turnovers compared to 14 to ENMU.

Friday night's energetic crowd provided a neat experience for collegiate basketball. Fans were engaged throughout the game and supported key plays.

Fans scattered around the horseshoe shaped arena to get their first look of the 2025-26 Greyhounds and have lots to look forward to as ENMU showed their ability to play with pesky tempo.

Some of the stars for Fort Lewis tonight came from Chuol Deng (12 pts) and Yorgio Golesis (10 pts). FLC was an impressive 56.3% from three point land and several players provided that they could shoot from distance.

Eastern New Mexico will look to earn their first win as they compete against in-state foe New Mexico Highlands. Tip is set for 7 p.m. NMHU is coming off a loss to Western New Mexico and now sit at 0-4 on the year.